Like the mortal life of which they are a part, adversities are temporary. What is permanent is what we become by the way we react to them.

The subject I believe we have neglected is the Book of Mormon’s witness of the divinity and mission of Jesus Christ and our covenant relationship to him.

To accomplish its mission, BYU must have all parts of its community united in pursuing it.

We must strive for mutual understanding and treat all with goodwill. We must exercise patience. We should all speak out for religion and the importance of religious freedom. We must, above all, trust in God and His promises.

May God bless us to live our lives so as to avoid entangling ourselves in sin and compromising our precious and unique gift of free agency. May we accept responsibility for our thoughts and our actions. May we use our free agency to make righteous choices and to act upon them as we have the freedom to do so.

“Each year there are new examples of coincidences—I call them miracles—that further our ties and our friendship with China and its people.”

More important than what you do as a student are the choices you are making in your personal life—the priorities you are adopting consciously or subconsciously. Are you going forward against the world’s opposition?

Though men’s hearts are failing them, you should take heart. There have always been challenging times. We, the generations of your predecessors, have survived daunting challenges, and so will you. The answer to all of these challenges is the same as it has always been. We have a Savior, and He has taught us what we should do.

Only from Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of this world, can we obtain the living water whose partaker shall never thirst again, in whom it will be “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

A person who engages in self-congratulation over a supposed strength has lost the protection of humility and is vulnerable to Satan’s using that strength to produce his or her downfall.

Elder Dallin H. and Sister Kristen M. Oaks talk about dating, hope, and how to push back against the pressures of the world by keeping the Sabbath day holy.

Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can unite and bring peace to people of all races and nationalities.

I know that God lives and that revelation to his children is a reality. I pray that we will be worthy and willing, and that he will bless us to grow in this principle of revelation.

“We don’t have to have personal experience with the effects of serious transgressions to know that they are destructive of our eternal welfare.”

The first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith means trust—trust in God’s will, trust in His way of doing things, and trust in His timetable. We should not try to impose our timetable on His.

Our tolerance and respect for others and their beliefs does not cause us to abandon our commitment to the truths we understand and the covenants we have made.

“The weightier matters that move us toward our goals of eternal life are love of God, obedience to his commandments, and unity in accomplishing the work of his Church.”

What seem to be only small deviations in direction or small detours from the straight and narrow path can result in huge differences in position down the road of life.

This is why we partake of the sacrament each week: to renew our covenants we have made with the Lord in the waters of baptism; to remember Him and to keep His commandments; to refresh in our minds who we are and what our role is in God’s plan.

Whatever your past has been, your future is spotless, so tie yourself to your potential, not to your past. One of the most beautiful truths of the plan of happiness is that the Lord ­forgives and forgets.

Being “an example of the believers,” living a life of kindness and compassion, keeping your covenant “to mourn with those that mourn,” and serving others can all have powerful effects on those around you.

Armed with BYU degrees, you will leave this place that has grown sacred to you because of the academic and spiritual opportunities you have been afforded here. You too carry the responsibility to add burnish to the name Brigham Young University. It now becomes your time to demonstrate to your employers, your graduate school professors, your business colleagues, your neighbors, and your friends what a BYU education truly means.

I believe you will clearly see that—as with the parade of students who have passed through these same portals—your most cherished experiences at BYU came because the Spirit of the Lord was undergirding and surrounding your experiences. The Spirit was manifest in dedicated classrooms and on acres of consecrated soil, and it was witnessed to you by leaders with testimonies of the truth.

For me, these kinds of paradigm-shifting moments triggered by a facing of truth are ­fundamental to the real BYU experience. Indeed, they help me understand the words of Christ when He said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

This mortal experience can take a toll on our testimony and commitment to the gospel. It is precisely in these times of testing that we need to be intellectually honest with ourselves and consciously remember the authentic spiritual experiences we have had.

I love the Prophet Joseph Smith. His life, example, and experiences provide a rich resource for our learning and understanding of gospel principles.

In these two ways, “to believe on their words” is like borrowing a flame to light a spiritual fire. There is no need to return the flame; no one comes asking for it. We just need to continue to fuel the fire. And those words can become pure revelation that we call our own.

It’s important to remember that we should not try to judge another’s motives. But we can judge our own motives. We need to look inside and take stock. Are we doing what we do out of love? Or has some other motive taken over?

“When we don’t use our arms, we lose the use of our muscles. So it is with our talents and testimonies in our lives.”

I believe something powerful happens anytime we gather as God’s covenant people anywhere in the world, no matter how many people the gathering may include. That power can be difficult to describe, but perhaps these words of the Savior explain it best: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them”.

When you were a student, we expected you to study, work hard, and develop into a person of faith, intellect, and good moral character. We invite you to continue to grow educationally and spiritually.

Just as our students consider the world our campus, BYU alumni have truly gone forth from this campus in excellence to work and serve in communities locally and all around the globe.

I am confident you will all use your individual talents to “go forth to serve” and will represent us well. D&C 64:33 states: “Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.”

A BYU education is not easy to accomplish. But you have retooled, refocused, and refined yourselves by experiencing a university that blends secular and spiritual truths. Congratulations, Cougars.